$1.74 billion in ad revenue but pays $1.51 billion to related entities
Updated ,first published
Google, Meta and Amazon’s cloud arm collectively sent more than $14 billion offshore from Australian customers last year, amid a growing debate about how tech giants should contribute to the country at a time when artificial intelligence is on the rise.
Financial statements submitted to the corporate regulator show the three companies employed fewer than 5000 people in Australia and paid a total of $212 million in income tax on local profits in the 2025 calendar year.
The filings underscore the gap between the scale of the tech giants’ operations in Australia and their remaining share of revenue in the country at a time when the Albanian government is preparing to unveil laws forcing Meta, Google and TikTok to pay for news content.
The three companies generated more than $8.5 billion in revenue from Australian customers last year, filings show. But the companies’ local accounts account for only a fraction of the tech giants’ eventual earnings from the country, as all three Australian outposts act as resellers or intermediaries for services offered by offshore parent entities, such as online advertising space.
These services were valued at at least $14 billion, but that figure is likely to be even higher as Meta’s Australian entity only covers ad sales to some customers while others buy overseas directly from Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram entities.
The applications come as the Albanian government prepares to unveil draft legislation on the News Media Bargaining Incentive, which aims to force tech giants, including Meta, to pay publishers for the value of journalism distributed on their platforms. They also come amid a growing debate about how Australia should handle the rise of artificial intelligence, in which all three companies have made massive investments.
Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, collected $1.74 billion in gross advertising revenue from a number of Australian advertisers; That’s a 19 percent increase from 2024, but $1.51 billion of that was sent to relevant entities abroad for the right to resell the tech giant’s ad inventory.
Google Australia generated $2.1 billion in revenue, largely reflecting the commission it receives from selling ads from other Google entities overseas. But $9.35 billion in “service fees” were recorded with related parties, which gives an idea of the value of advertising and cloud computing capacity sold in Australia through the company.
In its financial statement, Google states that it does not include the “gross amount billed to the end user” for cloud computing in its figures, but only records the “commission” it receives from advertising sales.
Amazon Web Services’ Australian revenue rose 20 per cent to $4.7 billion; but AWS paid $3.4 billion in cloud service fees to other Amazon entities; this accounts for almost three-quarters of its total revenue. Adding in Google’s $9.35 billion in service fees and Meta’s $1.5 billion in reseller payments, that amount amounts to more than $14 billion shipped overseas.
Financial statements submitted to the corporate regulator also reveal this Local subsidiary of MetaFacebook Australia also paid its first dividend in at least two years ($120 million) to its US-based parent company and ended the year with just 128 employees.
Meta’s $1.74 billion in gross advertising revenue from select Australian customers is up from $1.46 billion in 2024. However, it only reported net income of $223.9 million, largely due to the fact that Meta had paid out $1.51 billion to companies it owned worldwide.
Like Google’s Australian company, Facebook Australia is technically a retailer; so when it sells an ad to a business in Australia, it pays another company in Meta’s corporate group for the virtual space to display that ad.
The organization announced a net profit of $61.2 million. The $120 million dividend exceeded the company’s full year profits. Meta’s Australian arm has been contacted for comment.
access point
Unlike Meta’s bare-bones local setup, Google employed 2277 staff in Australia at the end of 2025, posted a net profit of $392.5 million and recorded an income tax expense of $92.6 million. Its separate cloud computing arm, Google Cloud Australia, added another $264.6 million in revenue and about $1.3 million in income taxes.
“In 2025, Google Australia invested over $1 billion in our local operations and also developed our $1 billion Digital Future Initiative, strengthening local technology innovation, infrastructure and research,” a spokesperson told this imprint.
Meanwhile, Amazon’s native cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Australia, increased revenue by 20 percent to $4.7 billion. Local business revenue reached $38.9 million. He paid almost $71 million in income taxes.
“Since 2012, AWS has proudly been supporting Australian businesses to innovate, scale and grow by leveraging AI and cloud technologies,” a spokesperson said. “We look forward to continuing to grow and invest in Australia to support the hundreds of thousands of customers using AWS today.”
Legislation on Australia’s News Media Bargaining Promotion is expected this week. Under the compensation and offset plan, platforms with more than $250 million in annual revenue will pay news publishers about 1.5 percent or face a 2.25 percent fee if they decline.
Meta withdrew from Australian news deals in March 2024, arguing that its news content had little value. The incoming plan closes the loophole in the original code that allowed platforms to evade liability by removing news, and the fee applies regardless. The government suggested the fee could be around 2.25 percent of the company’s revenue.
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers big stories, exclusive news and expert insights. Sign up to receive it every weekday morning.
